Analyzing crop production: Unraveling the impact of pests and pesticides through a fractional model

Abstract

The continuous growth of the human population raises concerns about food, fiber, and agricultural insecurity. Meeting the escalating demand for agricultural products due to this population surge makes protecting crops from pests becomes imperative. While farmers use chemical pesticides as crop protectors, the extensive use of these chemicals adversely affects both human health and the environment. In this research work, we formulate a nonlinear mathematical model using the Caputo fractional (CF) operator to investigate the effects of pesticides on crop yield dynamics. We assume that pesticides are sprayed proportional to the density of pest density and pests not entirely reliant on crops. The feasibility of every possible nonnegative equilibrium and its stability characteristics are explored utilizing the stability theory of fractional differential equations. Our model analysis reveals that in a continuous spray approach, the roles of pesticide abatement rate and pesticide uptake rate can be interchanged. Furthermore, we have identified the optimal time profile for pesticide spraying rate. This profile proves effective in minimizing both the pest population and the associated costs. To provide a practical illustration of our analytical findings and to showcase the impact of key parameters on the system’s dynamics, we conducted numerical simulations. These simulations are conducted employing the generalized Adams–Bashforth–Moulton method, which allowed us to vividly demonstrate the real-world implications of our research.

Keywords

• mathematical model
• crop production
• Caputo fractional derivative
• pesticides
• stability